Felicity Jones Speaks Out On Gender Pay Gap In Hollywood

The English star said that female actors should be paid the same as their male counterparts - "that's what every single woman around the world wants".

Hollywood star Felicity Jones has weighed into the debate around the gender inequality in the movie industry, saying that it should be an expectation that female stars get paid as much as their male counterparts.

Speaking to the January 2017 edition of Glamour magazine, the 33 year old English actress, who stars in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off movie Rogue One, said: “I want to be paid fairly for the work that I'm doing.”

“That's what every single woman around the world wants,” she continued. “We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position. And I think it's important to talk about it.”

Felicity Jones spoke out on the gender pay gap in Hollywood

Jones, who came to prominence two years ago with her role opposite Eddie Redmayne in the Oscar-nominated film The Theory of Everything, is just the latest high-profile name to call for greater equality when it comes to pay packets in Hollywood, with Patricia Arquette and Jennifer Lawrence making well-publicised statement on the subject in the last couple of years.

“It's brave of those women to come forward and make a point about it,” she said about those statements. “Now younger actresses will have a confidence in those discussions with their agents and be able to say, ‘Can we make sure that I'm being paid the right amount for the work that I'm doing?’”

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is due to hit cinemas on December 16th. Jones plays Jyn Erso, a fighter recruited by the Rebel Alliance to complete a dangerous mission regarding the Death Star. She also spoke out why she enjoyed portraying her character.

“I’ve always been a feminist, and what I love in my work is being able to explore a full-sided woman and not patronise her,” she explained. “Particularly with Jyn, it’s such a rare opportunity to be able to play a female who’s not just thinking about romantic relationships. We don’t even see Jyn’s arms! That’s not her priority. She’s a survivor, and she has a mission to complete.”